For almost a week now, I've been using Slackware 9.1 (RC-1 released today), and I am having a blast. Slackware doesn't have more than 6-8% of the Linux market these days, but it used to be one of the most-used distros back in the day. Today, many think of Slackware as a true classic, a thought that is often accompanied by a feeling that Slackware is not a user-friendly or an uber-modern Linux distribution. There is some truth in that statement, but there is always the big "But". Read on for our very positive experience with Slackware 9.1-pre. Update: In less than 24 hours since the RC-1, Slackware 9.1 RC-2 is out.

"Gentoo isn't much better. Portage is also good in theory. The problem is, first off to get a working system it takes at least two days. (NO I WON'T USE STAGE 3 W/ GRP!!! THE ATHLON XP VERSION CHOKES EVERYTIME I TRY TO INSTALL GNOME). So I decided I was going to give it one more shot starting from stage 1. Two days later I had gnome and everything up. However, I go to try install XMMS, and it tells me it needs to uninstall gnome panel 2.2 and install 1.4. I'm just like whatever, and I booted into XP because I didn't want to deal with it."

First of all, gentoo is a source based distro, therefore I don't see why you complain about how long it might take to have a full desktop system built. Source distros compile everything FROM source. If you don't like waiting for it to finish, then don't use it, go for a binary based one. And what does Portage has to do with compile times?

Second, I don't see how in hell it took you two days to get a working system. On my XP 1900, starting from stage 1, I had mine built WITH GNOME in less than a day. Unless you're installing countless apps I don't see how you hit the 2 day mark.

Third, as far as your statement of XMMS wanting to uninstall the 2.2 version of Gnome panel in favor of the 1.4, again you're wrong. Portage features a slot feature, therefore Gnome panel 1.4 and 2.2 can both be installed and coexist. So yes, it would install gnome panel 1.4, but it WONT uninstall the 2.2 version. Perhaps you should have investigated more or check the forums at gentoo.org, but you said it yourself, "I'm just like whatever, and I booted into XP because I didn't want to deal with it." This is why you fail. Gentoo is not a newbie distro.